Monsters

Remember when you were a kid and there were monsters under your bed? You had to jump in from three feet out in case they grabbed you by the ankles and dragged you under. Well I have monsters under my front steps to the house.

The Muscovy ducks, Buddy and B.D. love to sit under there for hours, their own private camp. Muscovy ducks are quackless and make a strange hissing sound that is quite disconcerting for those who don't know them. It almost sounds like a large dog panting heavily. When someone walks up the steps to the house, they hear this strange noise from under their feet and come scurrying up half afraid of just what will be under there.

Here I have captured one of the 'monsters', Buddy, lying in wait.

Its the time of year at work and home which leaves me breathless in the speed at which it hurtles forward. Meetings, presentations, the farm, life in general never let me have enough hours in the day to do the things I really want to do which is drawing.

This week my drawing has been sadly neglected while I take care of other things. I'm smoothing the path towards some goals that I made back in January and some things are coming together. I was asked to sit on the Executive of the provincial Art Association and accepted and started the process in motion last night. Like most volunteer based organizations, there are hurdles to be jumped and a herd of ideas roam in my head for ways to enhance services for the organization and for those it serves - the artists of the province.

Being on 'the inside' allows me access to the vast network of people and resources for the arts and helps network. I can continue to build my portfolio, participate in shows and enable others to influence and help me in my journey. Workshops and information flow freely and it will be good to be back in the heart of the arts community.

I am also working on some teaching possibilities, summer art camps or workshops perhaps and some more regular teaching in the fall for an online course. As with most artists my dream would be to let art make me self sufficient. As with all things, this takes a large amount of blood, sweat and tears, as well as a plan. At last my plan is starting to come together.

More books

Cloud Study - Sky Tutorial
copyright Jeanette Jobson

Yesterday I ordered Diane Wright's new book 'Beautiful Landscapes' from the Drawing Made Easy series. Diane is a wonderful landscape artist with a passion for drawing barns - exquisite barns. She created a series of tutorials on WetCanvas which I followed with interest and participated in as much as time would allow.

If her book is anything like her tutorials, it will be something to treasure and add to the 'must have' resource list. The book has 64 pages and 115 illustrations packed into it. You can order it from Diane's website for a very reasonable price and it will soon be available through Amazon UK as well I believe.

Update

I've been nibbling away little by little at my symbolic self portrait and its slowly coming together, but still a very far way from completion. It may well take months before that happens. Its a large piece 22 x 30 on illustration board and rendered in graphite. I'm using a mix of mechanical and wood pencils to get the full range of leads that I need to make this drawing work.

Getting a good image of it has been a challenge from the start and I just can't seem to obtain a crisp image no matter what the light conditions. My camera doesn't seem to want to focus on softer greys which this is right now and needs a strong contrast for the camera to grab. I'm hoping it will be come easier as the drawing progresses.

The drawing was on my drafting table when I took the photo so the angles are off. The staff should be more upright and the horizon line really is straighter, even if it needs a little tweaking I think.

Curves

Although I have other projects to do, I came across some references in a figure class and did a quick sketch. I will go back when I have time and do justice to the piece. I liked the shapes and curves, even if I think I made the body too long.

I soooooooooo need to find a life class, but no luck as of yet. Sigh.

Textures

I was playing around with a scrap of illustration board today. It was a sample piece I'd received when I was trying to decide if I wanted large pieces of it or not. The texture, especially in portraits, that can be achieved in different paper supports is quite interesting.

I have used mostly Bristol smooth for portraits and sometimes Stonehenge paper, both of which I like a lot for graphite portraiture, each for their own individuality. I am using a 22 x 30 illustration board for a current drawing and liked mostly how its slightly rough texture worked for me. Its quite a forgiving support and takes erasure quite well which I was surprised by. I somehow felt that it would be more fragile.

So I played with this little doodle on the fragment of illustration board that was my original sample, using the circulism technique and it does work well for skin texture on this. I think I'll be buying more illustration board in the future.